Have You Ever?
by Pagan-Angel13
Summary: AU. Eventually Naley. Please R & R.Summary: Haley along with her twin brothers move to Tree Hill. She has secret and her cousin Brooke makes it her mission to find out what it is...but not everything is as it seems. Sorry I'm good w summaries.
1. Chapter 1

Have You Ever? By Stace

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the characters by me (Paige and Donald). Characters and everything owned by the creator of One Tree Hill

* * *

Chapter 1- Leaving What You Know

She sat watching the sun set on the horizon, looking like it was dipping into the ocean that had been below it all day.

It didn't bother her that the sand was scorching or the fact that the tide was making its way up the shore, getting closer to her by the minute; all she knew was that this was the last time she would be able to sit here like this watching, listening and just plain relaxing. Tomorrow she would be arriving in a place she hadn't been near, let alone lived in over five years though she wouldn't be as alone as she felt right at this moment, well not physically anyway.

She knew that tomorrow would come too soon though she should be use to it by now, she'd been constantly moving around since she was five but this time it was different. This time her parents wouldn't be there, she would be all alone, well almost - Lucien and Lucan would both be there - so life wouldn't be dull or boring.

"Hey, stranger! You do realize we're leaving in 10?" Said a young, tall, athletically tanned sandy brown haired guy.

"I'll be there, don't worry…just saying goodbye," she told him then before she could stop herself she asked, "Do you think you'll miss it…this?"

"Yeah, course we will Hales but I'm sure there are beaches not far from where we'll be. Listen I know this is hard - it's hard for all of us - but if you, Lucan and me stick together then we'll get through it; promise," he told her, his trade mark grin in place.

"Thanks Lucien."

Leaning down he grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her up, picking up the surfboard not to far away while she picked up her other beach gear.

Haley looked at both her brothers completely frustrated at the amount of time that they'd had to spend on the flights to get here. Who knew that a flight from Sydney took 23:20hours including two stopovers?

Right now it was taking everything in her not to explode at her brothers' antics and conversation topics. For the entirety of all their flights, both Lucien and Lucan had talked about and rated how hot the female flight attendants and other female passengers were; like they were all pieces of meat on show. If she had to hear another sexual innuendo or comment she was going to go positively insane…or kill one of them!

Normally it wouldn't bother her so much, she could get away from them but being on a 747 flying over the Pacific Ocean, she couldn't.

Now here they were at some minor domestic airport in North Carolina waiting for their cousins to pick them up.

They had to go stay with relatives in a place called Tree Hill. Apparently they'd grown up there until they were five, when their parents had decided to travel the world with their four children in tow. Haley didn't really remember anything of her 'supposed' Tree Hill life probably due to the fact the James family had constantly been on the move for the last eleven years due to the jobs of their parents.

Her parents were both Marine Biologists and Oceanographers, so this meant she'd been to and seen more exotic locations and not so exotic locations in her sixteen years than most people dream of in a lifetime. The only people she knew who'd traveled as much she had were her brothers and her older sister, Taylor. But now that had all come to an abrupt end and she was being forced to give up her comfortable gypsy-style life to stay put for an indefinite period. Something she wasn't looking forward too.

She remembered the day her parents had practically shattered her entire world like it was yesterday.

_Having spent their entire day surfing knowing it could be their last at this particular spot, the three of them had made their way onto the back of the boat their parents were using._

_While both boys – who were practically identical – stripped off their wetsuits to reveal tanned bare muscular chests and board shorts, Haley had grabbed the nearest towel and begun drying herself off. She never really bothered wearing a wetsuit unless her parents insisted, instead preferring the freedom that board shorts and bikini tops allowed her._

"_Guys, your father and I need to talk to you," said Lydia James solemnly, a slight frown marring her beautiful, slightly weathered features. Having heard this tone before, noticing her mother's tenseness and ill at ease manner, Haley had the feeling that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be to her liking._

_As Jimmy and Lydia James carefully looked at the faces of their three youngest offspring Lydia continued, "You all know we love you and love having you with us, right?" _

_Receiving only a shake of their heads as answer Jimmy said, "We've been offered a very exclusive and lucrative opportunity, a true once in a life time chance," he paused adding, "The kind of offer too good to refuse, the only problem is the three of you can't come with us like normal. We're sorry," he finished apologetically._

_Looking at her children, waiting for each of their inevitable reactions Lydia could understand why no one realized her children were triplets. Most mistook her boys for twins and Haley as their tag-a-long little sister. _

_But the truth was Haley was older than Lucan by two minutes and younger than Lucien by two minutes. Her boys were practically identical apart from eye colouring, Lucien's being cerulean blue like their older sister, Lucan's being turquoise green just like his father. Haley was different and what set her apart from her brothers were her soft, deep chocolate brown eyes and her stunningly burnished auburn tresses. She was the true beauty of the family, whether she realized it or not._

_Suddenly Lydia was brought back to reality as the reactions she'd expected happened, the one she feared most occurring first._

_Her voice deadly calm, Haley softly questioned, "Why? What's the reasoning? Where will we be going?" looking to her mother for the answers she sort._

_Knowing this kind of reaction was just the calm before the storm where Haley was concerned, Lydia gently replied, "This job means we'll be out at sea for at least six months maybe longer. It would be impossible with the conditions for you all to continue with your correspondence, which your father and I think is important so we decided that the three of you would be staying with my sister – your aunt Paige – and her husband Donald Davis in Tree Hill," Lydia finished, her eyes still trained on her youngest daughter._

_With his easy going manner Lucan took everything they were being told in stride, and once his mother had finished speaking, knowing his sister wasn't about to say anything he spoke, saying, "Sure. It'll be a new experience Mum. When do we leave? What will happen with our studies?"_

_Answering his youngest, Jimmy said, "You leave in a week, it's all been arranged. You'll be attending the local high school with your cousins."_

"_Sure," both Lucan and Lucien – who hadn't spoken - answered their father._

_Taking one look at his youngest daughter's body language – the only display of her emotional state – Jimmy could see she was about to morph into the spitfire he knew and loved before too long._

_Feeling lucky they would be on their way back to Sydney this afternoon he was glad he wouldn't have to spend a great deal of time with the none too placid version of his precious daughter, after all when she was angry even mad she somehow managed to put all the angry women of mythology to shame._

_As soon as Jimmy had finished speaking, Haley up and walked to her cabin, slamming closed every door in her wake, completely ignoring her family._

_At this outward sign of her displeasure everyone adhered to the rule of thumb whenever any one of them was upset or angry – leave them be – and in Haley's case this was especially true. So they left her alone for the rest of the afternoon until they arrived in Sydney._

"Haley, is that you?" a feminine voice asked surprised from somewhere near by causing Haley to turn around and be confronted by a dark haired beauty who must be in her forties - at least - accompanied by a man about the same age but with light brown hair.

"Aunt Paige?" she answered, plastering on her most sincere yet fakest smile.

Once the man and woman – now known as Aunt Paige and Uncle Donald – made their way to them, they were each summarily embraced by their Aunt Paige and escorted out to the waiting car after the necessary introductions had been made.

* * *

If you liked it or even if you didn't...press that little button that says 'Go' at the bottom of the page. 

Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

Have You Ever? By Stace

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the characters created by me (Paige & Donald). Other characters and basically everything else owned by the creator(s) of One Tree Hill and the network. Suing me would be pointless.

* * *

Chapter 2- New Surroundings

With her head resting on Lucan's shoulder, Haley felt a sharp sudden nudge to her right side. As she opened her eyes, she became instantly alert to her surroundings and the fact that her younger brother was currently nudging her.

"What…" she said, kind of annoyed at him, realizing that they were at what was to be their new 'home'.

"We're here," Lucan told her cheerfully, smirking knowing she was going to be in a foul mood for awhile, especially as far as they were from the beach.

Knowing his sister – he had no reason not to – Lucan knew that the water was where she felt safe, at home really. After all they'd be raised in, around and on it almost their entire lives so they all felt a deep connection to it but Haley more so than he and Lucien. And right now he knew that this whole situation was really messing with her…and not just her head, he could feel it just like she would feel it if it was him.

Hitting him lightly on the shoulder, Hales made her way out of the car and followed her Aunt and Uncle along with her brothers into the house pausing momentarily on the front steps, looking at the outside view of what would now be her new abode.

It was a beautifully built two storey with superb architecture and a fairytale like quality that spoke of luxury and riches she had never known nor wanted.

As she made her way inside she took in everything she saw to process later on when she wasn't so tired or annoyed, making a note to go exploring when she felt more awake.

"The bedrooms are all upstairs except for ours which is on this floor," Paige told them pointing in the vague direction down a hallway to the left. "The kitchen, living and family rooms along with your Uncle Donald's study are on this floor but the library, an open planned family room with a study just for your cousins and yourselves is upstairs. I'll show you the upstairs and your rooms now," Paige finished, happily adding "And your cousins will be home later on," leading them upstairs to their rooms or in Haley's case 'her prison cell'.

While pointing out different rooms, areas of the house and things upstairs, Paige continued talking, mostly about her children Tim and Brooke – the James triplets' cousins.

"To let you know Donald and I have a few basic rules that you are expected to abide by just like Tim and Brooke. They're just simple things like letting either of us know when you're going out, who you're with, when to roughly expect you home and to always have your phones with you when you leave the house. If you can't find one of us then just leave a note on the fridge so someone can see it," she explained, making sure they all understood.

"Sure, no problem Aunt Paige," Lucien said sincerely, acting as the triplets spokesman.

As she neared the rooms she'd given her niece and nephews she pointed out which rooms belonged to Tim and Brooke so they would know and said, "I know this doesn't feel like home to any of you yet but I'm sure once you give it a chance and some time to settle in, it soon will."

Halting at one door, she opened it saying, "Lucan, this is your room," moving back to allow him entrance. Moving to the door directly across the hall she continued, "Lucien, this is yours," again moving back to allow her other nephew entrance and a view.

Once the boys had entered their respective rooms closing the doors, it left Paige alone with Haley.

As Paige discreetly looked at her niece, she recalled the recent conversation she'd had with her sister - when Lydia had visited - concerning her youngest niece.

"_Thank you so much for agreeing to take the triplets, Age. You have no idea how much this means to Jimmy and I…or what you're about to get yourself into," said a grateful Lydia James._

"_Dia, it's no problem. I told you on the phone I'd do anything I could to help out; after all you're my little sister. Anyway I should be thanking you! If you weren't taking this job I wouldn't get to see my niece and nephews in the flesh…I'd still be stuck with the monthly photo updates," Paige Davis said, smiling._

"_Oh and tell that nephew of mine when you see him I said nice hair cut," Paige added grinning at which Lydia sighed and said, "Sure but just so you know he intends to keep it that way."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah," Lydia replied, just as she took a drink of her mineral water._

"_So how are they going to take it, do you think?" asked Paige curiously, a few minutes later._

"_The boys will be fine; they pretty much take everything in stride and adjust easily to any given situation. Haley on the other hand, not so much. She's the one I'm worried about. It's going to be the hardest on her, she loves living less than a mile from the ocean and living like a gypsy," Lydia replied, her concern evident._

"_How do you think she'll react?"_

"_Initially she'll be calm, that'll last for oh…ten minutes if I'm lucky then she'll be a right royal spitfire for a few days, at least. By the time she gets here she'll have grudgingly accepted her fate, have fake smiles plastered across her face, ready just for you and not be afraid to show her displeasure or disgust…at least until she feels like the rug won't be pulled out from under her again and she settles in," Lydia explained, adding "What makes it worse is apart from the betrayal she'll feel from Jimmy and I…is what she'll sense from us."_

"_What do you mean? I don't think you've ever mentioned this before," Paige questioned, curious as to this new fact about her niece._

"_Haley and Lucan have this…this uncanny ability to…to sense peoples emotions, whether they want to or not. They can sense emotions of people in the same room with them or the emotions left by people in any empty room."_

"_When did it start?"_

"_When they were young but it only seems to be the two of them, Lucien has his own uncanny ability which neither Haley nor Lucan possess. Thank god," Lydia said, sighing._

_Recognizing the look on her sister's face, Lydia said, "What are you planning?"_

"_Nothing, just thinking about what you've told me," came Paige's nonchalant reply._

"_Does it concern Haley?"_

"_Maybe…but don't worry, it'll be something to help her settle in. Promise," said Paige, reassuringly._

_With that the two women continued to discuss and work out the necessary details of the triplets impending stay._

Seeing Haley was behaving true to her sister's words, Paige knew that what she'd decided and planned was the right thing. Her niece wasn't even putting on a show of hiding her displeasure or distaste at her current situation but Paige sincerely hoped that would improve – at least some – when Haley saw the room she'd been given. Hoping it might help her settle in and feel comfortable, that much quicker.

The room she'd decided to make as Haley's was in fact the best room the house had to offer. It was spacious, contained both an ensuite and a walk-in wardrobe large enough to swing a cat, just like the other rooms except on a larger scale but most and more importantly what made the room the best was the spectacular views and large balcony that overlooked the entire backyard of their property.

The room had up until now been used as their prime guestroom, much to Brooke's absolute chagrin since Brooke had obsessively been asking to switch to this room since she was ten, mainly because of the balcony.

In fact the house only had one other balcony which was located off the upstairs family room, nearest the study.

"And Haley this is your bedroom," she said caringly, leading Haley inside.

After a few moments of silence, Paige said, "I didn't know what you liked, other than surfing so I didn't decorate it. Thought I'd leave that to you. Enjoy…and have fun Haley."

Just as she was about to leave she heard Haley say softly, "Thanks…Aunt Paige," taking that as her cue to leave Paige exited the room, knowing she'd made a small bit of progress with her niece.

As she left Haley's room, making her way past the boys room's she said loud enough for them all to hear "Feel free to explore the house and the grounds, this is your home now too."

Stopping momentarily at the top of the stairs she added, "Dinner will be ready in two hour in the downstairs dinning room," then proceeded to make her way to the kitchen, intent on preparing a wonderful dinner.

Haley immediately noticed the balcony before anything else in the room; it had afternoon sunlight streaming through it allowing her to see dust motes drifting in the air. She walked to the centre of the room, turned around slowly and let out a long slow sigh.

The room was beautifully and tastefully furnished. It had bare walls and shelves and plenty of room for her meager belongings. It also had a stereo system set up on one of the shelving units, ready for use.

Not being a really good flyer, Haley felt exhausted and sluggish from all the flying she'd undertaken just to get here, so without a thought or care in the world she put her bags down wherever the landed.

Standing in the middle of her new room for a few minutes, Haley decided on what she would do. Thinking of her old room back in Sydney – which had been her home for the past three months – she thought how different the two rooms were. In Sydney her room had been decorated the way she liked it with enough furniture to give it a homely but not too cramped feel, here was completely different. For a start it was sparsely furnished with a Mahogany queen-sized bed, matching night tables on either side, a matching vanity table, a floor length stand alone oval mirror and a writing desk already set up with a laptop close to the open balcony doors.

Having taken note of everything, liking how the furniture was situated she decided against moving anything instead going about finding places and putting her things away. Checking out the wardrobe she grabbed her clothes and hung them up with the hangers her Aunt had thoughtfully supplied, put her other clothes that belonged in drawers in the drawers that the wardrobe contained and made her way into the ensuite. After finding places to put her toiletries she put them away too.

Having put everything away, found places for her most precious items and just plain trying to settle herself in, Haley found she was as settled as she could be, at least physically. The emotional settling in would take longer but she knew that, it was normal.

Being satisfied with what she'd accomplished in less than an hour Haley changed her clothes and made her way down the back staircase located near her bedroom.

Once outside, feeling the slight breeze as it rustled her hair she felt an inner calm and peace seep into her bones, allowing her to finally relax.

As soon as the doors had closed on their respective rooms, both Lucien and Lucan had instantly started reorganizing their rooms; moving different pieces of furniture into positions that worked better for them.

Satisfied with their moving efforts they each put up the posters they'd brought with them intent on making their rooms resemble as much of their previous rooms as possible. After all they'd done so everywhere else they'd lived for the last eleven years and nothing was different now. This was just their newest abode in a long list, though much nice and larger.

After putting all their gear away, finding homes for their various bits and pieces the boys each took note of the time, seeing it hadn't taken them long to get their rooms the way they liked them, they decided on going outside. Meeting up in the hallway they took the same way outside as Haley, their intention to find their sister.

Noticing the large in-ground pool, the boys looked around the yard or what they could see of it until they zoned in on the unmistakable figure in the distance. Racing over to her, jumping whatever happened to be in their way the two boys stopped the instant they got close to the final piece of the puzzle they made: Haley.

Seeing she'd changed her earlier clothing of a black tank top and short skirt to a string bikini top and floral print shorts, Lucan grabbed hold of her, slinging her over his shoulders and determinedly walked back towards the pool, his intention to dunk her in.

Having had the same thought but being beaten to it, Lucien followed them laughing as his sister relentlessly and continuously kicked, pinched and punched his brother's back all the while shooting him murderous looks.

As he watched he felt a twinge of remorse for what they were about to do to her, seeing as how this was the first time in a week he'd seen her relaxed and calm. But knowing this was the only way to bring a genuine smile to her face, they were prepared to go through with it even if she would make them both suffer for it later on, it was worth it.

The thing with them was they were extremely close, sharing an unbreakable and at often times incomprehensible bond where they could not only sense but feel the pain, loss, anger, happiness or bliss each other felt. And for the last week including today all they'd felt radiating from Haley was her pain, loss, anger and betrayal. So they were quite willing to face their sister's wrath just to get one genuine smile out of her and a blip of happiness.

Smelling Paige Davis's cooking wafting on the air, the Davis siblings along with their closest friends emerged from the side gate into their backyard heading straight for the pool around the corner of the house.

Looking at his sister as she talked to her friends, ignoring him, Tim knew his mother wasn't going to be very happy. She'd mentioned to them this morning something about not inviting any friends around tonight but he couldn't remember if she'd told them why.

All he could remember was that having them – just them – home was important to her, so he was glad he'd only brought along Nathan, who was practically family anyway; but Brooke had brought both her best friends – Peyton Sawyer and Jacinta Scott, Nate's little sister. He didn't really want to be around when his mother found out but it was inevitable.

As the five of them rounded the corner they could hear laughter and what sounded like a girl screaming. Brooke, who was the first to round the corner stopped dead at what she saw, the rest of the group following suit almost crashing into her. At once they all noticed what had caused her abrupt halt, in the pool in front of them with their backs turned were three fully clothed teenagers – two boys, one girl - splashing around and play fighting with each other.

As each of the five stood mutely by watching, Nathan felt his eyes drawn to the girl, whose attired left nothing to the imagination and showed off her petite, toned, bronzed body. As he stared at her, he couldn't help thinking she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen…anywhere in his entire life. She seemed to have this glow about her, an inner confidence that radiated from her…and he'd only seen her from the back.

Astounded that no one had done anything Brooke regained her voice, shouting "Who the _hell_ are you people? Don't you know this is private property!" snapping Nathan out of his fascinated stare.

Hearing a voice somewhere above and behind them intruding on their fun, Lucan, Lucien and Haley all turned to find a group of people about their age gawking at them.

"Are you going to answer me or are you all deaf, dumb and stupid?" Brooke snapped, her tone condescending with an air of superiority when no answer was forthcoming.

The moment Haley heard the question; she took the latter part of it as an insult, not only to herself but to her brothers as well. Already being out of the pool she slowly walked over to the group, placed herself in front of the dark haired girl who'd spoken so rudely to them and pulled back her fist, punching the girl squarely in the jaw sending her head spinning before anyone could react.

As fast as their clothes would allow both Lucien and Lucan jumped out of the pool, grabbing hold of Haley by her arms and dragged her away, putting some distance between them and the group before she could repeat her actions. While a brown haired guy from the group stepped forward making sure the dark haired girl who Haley had hit was okay.

As this happened the other guy in the group came forward and said, "Why'd she do that? I know Brooke wasn't exactly being polite but there was no reason for it."

Knowing their sister the way they did, feeling her anger boiling just below the surface even now, Lucien replied, "My sister took what your friend said as an insult. She doesn't take kindly to being insulted or to people who insult my brother and myself," speaking only the truth.

"Plus she has a volatile temper," added Lucan who currently had a firm grip on his sister's upper arm.

Before anyone could say or do anything more, Paige came rushing out of the house, and stood before them wiping her hands on the apron about her waist saying, "What happened?" Fearing something horrible had happened.

* * *

**Have your say. Let me know what you think. All reviews extremely welcome and appreciated.**

**Thanks for reading guys and girls,**

**Stace.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Have You Ever? By Stace/Pagan

Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the characters I created (Lucan, Lucien, Lillie, Paige, Donald, Patrick). Other characters and everything else owned by the creator(s) and the network. Suing me would be pointless.

* * *

Chapter 3- From Bad to Worse

Looking from Tim, Brooke and their friends to her nephews restraining her niece, she said, "Will someone please tell me what the hell's going on? Tim? Brooke?"

When no answer was forthcoming from her own children Paige turned to her nephews and niece, saying, "Why are you restraining Haley?" causing their grip to loosen, allowing Haley her chance to bolt; which she did the moment she felt their grip slacken.

Rushing past everyone, she headed out the direction the group had entered, ignoring the calls from her brothers.

"Aunt Paige, I can explain," Lucien said, looking his Aunt square in her eyes. Being born the eldest he felt he had two responsibilities where his younger siblings were concerned, one being to take care of them, the other to speak for them and defend them.

Which is exactly what he had to do now, he usually did when Haley lost her temper since it would always result in them getting into some form of trouble. But then again his sister had a knack for getting them into trouble while he had an uncanny knack for getting them out of it.

At his answer, everyone present including a fuming Brooke turned shocked faces towards Lucien then Paige, who hid a small smile. Obviously her daughter hadn't heard a word she'd said that morning or any other during the week.

"Excuse me! Aunt Paige?" Brooke began, completely flabbergasted, her eyes wide but was cut off by Lucien as he spoke.

"Aunt Paige, Hales hit who I can…only guess is our cousin Brooke. She took a question of cousin Brooke's as a personal insult not only to herself but to Lucan and I. After Haley hit cousin Brooke, both Lucan and I immediately grabbed hold of her, moving her away from them then I explained to them why Haley did what she did. We're sorry," Lucien finished, his tone neutral and actions diplomatic. All the while trying to suppress the worry he felt for his sister, knowing Lucan was doing the same thing.

It wasn't that he didn't think she could take care of herself, hell she'd proved countless times she was a better fighter than either he or Lucan, that she was more than capable of fending for herself but that didn't change the fact she was his baby sister…or what she'd do with the kind of mood she was in. He was afraid and worried about her.

"Lucien, what did Brooke say? What was it that made Haley react the way she did?" Paige responded concerned for her niece but knowing how her daughter could behave was afraid to find out.

She could also see why her sister warned her about her eldest son, Lucien did have the gift of acting the diplomat while calculating how best to get them out of trouble. She could see as he spoke telling her in a neutral tone what had happened not inflecting any emotion, his mind ticking, working out what would be the best approach to keep the three of them out of trouble. She was going to have to be careful of him if any of the triplets got into trouble or she'd end up doing what her sister told her she did – let them get away with anything.

Answering her in a tone of gravity, Lucien said, "It wasn't when she shouted, asking us who we were and if we knew this was private property but when she snapped at us, asking us if we were 'deaf, dumb and stupid' in a condescending tone filled with superiority in response to our lack of answering her straight away."

Adding "Haley was already out of the pool and by the time either of Lucan or I could react Haley had already punched Brooke in the jaw sending her head spinning. Like I said Aunt Paige, we're sorry for what Haley did; it's just sometimes she reacts on emotion alone not thinking of the consequences…not to mention we're very protective of each other."

"Thank you, Lucien."

Turning to her daughter, Paige said, "It is true, Brooke? Is what Lucien telling me completely true?" in a tone that brook no lying or argument.

Reluctantly Brooke sulkily replied, "Yes…but Mom, I had no idea who they were! I still don't know who they are except the one with hair keeps calling you 'Aunt Paige'."

Sighing, she turned to Tim and said, "Do you know who they are?" trying to prove a point.

"Yeah, they're our cousins…the James's. You've been telling us all week they'll be staying with us for a while," Tim replied, remembering why his mother hadn't wanted guests around tonight.

Looking to her daughter, Paige explained, "If you'd ever listened to me in the mornings Brooke, you would've known who they were and next time instead of yelling at people, insulting them ask them nicely who they are while waiting longer than 5 seconds for them to answer."

"But Mom," Brooke began.

"And before you say anything Brooke Penelope Davis, I'll be talking to your cousin about punching you, though you should remember you have no right to talk to people as though they are second rate or you are above them. I thought I raised you better than that," Paige said, a bit exasperated by her daughter's actions.

"Come on, everyone into the house. I'll make the proper introductions and we can put some ice and maybe a poultice on that jaw of yours," she finished, herding the kids into the house, following behind them.

Inside, once everyone was seated around the kitchen and Brooke had an ice pack resting against her jaw, Paige began.

"Lucien, Lucan meet my daughter Brooke…and her older brother Tim. I don't know if you boys remember each other but you did know each other when you were younger. The young man next to Tim is Nathan Scott, who if memory serves Lucien you use to hang out with. The two girls on either side of my daughter are Jacinta Scott, Nathan's little sister and Peyton Sawyer," Paige explained, pointing each of them out to the boys.

"Tim, Brooke…everyone these are my sister Lydia and her husband Jimmy's kids, well three of them anyway. If you haven't noticed though it apparently is difficult to tell – they are triplets. This is Lucien," she said, patting him on the shoulder, "and this is Lucan. If you get confused, just remember Lucan is the practically bald one," she added, running her hand over his stubbly scalp, affectionately.

"And the girl who ran off, is Haley. Hopefully you'll all get to meet her later," Paige finished, slightly worried.

Having no idea of where she was, only knowing she didn't want to go back to her Aunt's; Haley had wandered along the road into town for a while until a car pulled along side her, found out where she was headed and given her a lift since it was the same destination as theirs.

That was a few hours ago and now she found herself sitting in the sand, watching the water and the surfers who were out there. Out where she wished she was but when she'd bolted she hadn't exactly thought so she had no wallet, no id and certainly no board with her now. Oh how she wished she was out there, riding the waves, letting the feeling of oneness and freedom infiltrated her body and her mind, releasing her simmering anger and her pain.

"Fat chance of that, Hales," she muttered to herself.

"Fat chance of what?" said a lilting feminine voice, adding "You look how I felt two hours ago," consolingly.

Not really in the mood for talking, Haley looked up about to tell the person to mind there own business when she saw that the person was a girl about her own age, with dripping wet hair and a slick wetsuit. Sensing the girl was a kindred spirit she changed her mind and found herself saying, "Being out there, riding the waves," her eyes back, trained on the water.

Having quickly gotten out of her wetsuit the girl turned her attention back to Haley, noticing where Haley's eyes were trained she could see the longing and instantly sensed a kindred spirit, just like Haley had moments ago.

"My name's Lillie," she spoke, gaining Haley's attention.

"Haley."

"Nice to meet you Haley, is there a last name that goes with the first?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's James. Nice to meet you too," came Haley's reply, already warming up to the girl.

"Mine's Hardgrove. Lillie Hardgrove."

"Haley James," Haley said, smiling genuinely in what seemed like forever.

"You don't sound like you're from around here…but I can't place the accent," Lillie said, her curiosity showing.

"I just arrived from Sydney a few hours ago…but I'm originally from the States," Haley told her.

After a few minutes of silence in which Lillie quickly dried her hair, Lillie spoke "If you wanna go for a surf, you can borrow my board. I know it helps me to be able to go out there and just clear your mind, release some tension."

"I couldn't."

"Yeah, you can. Look I never offer to let anyone use my board, its sacred but I can tell you really, really need to be out there. Just be careful with her, that's all I ask," Lillie replied. She'd been watching Haley as she dried her hair and something about Haley was screaming for a release, screaming a need so intense to be out there it was so…so…she didn't know what except that Haley really needed to be riding a wave.

Looking uncertain towards both the board and the water she said, "You wouldn't mind?"

"I asked you didn't I? Anyway I've got a few extra towels that you can use afterwards so there's no problem. Now go!" Lillie told her, giving Haley her board, pushing her in the direction of the water's edge with a gleam in her eyes that reminded Haley of Lucan.

"Thanks. How long can I be out there?"

"As long as ya need, I've got my brother's car."

With that Haley took off, no further encouragement needed. Once she got into the water, she paddled out to the break and waited to catch the next wave. She was in heaven, she was home.

Having finished getting dried and changed, Lillie sat down in the sand and watched as the new friend she'd made proceeded to paddle out and catch some waves.

As Lillie watched she became absolutely fascinated and mesmerized as Haley consecutively pulled off numerous aerials and three-sixties, even some backhands without a problem. She was even awed by Haley's prowess and ability in the water that she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Haley was amazing, pulling off moves that Lillie wasn't even game to try and she'd been surfing for eight years.

As Haley continued to surf, occasionally doing some maneuvers Lillie had never seen Lillie couldn't help wondering if Haley had moved to Tree Hill when suddenly her phone went off.

Racing back to her stuff, Lillie picked up her phone, quickly checking what the time was before answering in her sweetest voice when she saw who the caller was.

"Hello big brother. Yes I know what the time is. I'll be home shortly, don't worry. Cya," she said, hanging up, thinking it was sweet of her brother to worry where she was but then again she did have his car so he probably just wanted it back.

Turning around she came face to face with Haley, who carefully placed her board on the sand – just like it was a baby.

"Hey, sorry if I took too long…you were right, I needed the outlet. Thanks," Haley told her.

"Sure, don't worry about it," Lillie replied, handing her a towel.

"Anyway, I was wondering…I know we only just met each other today but I was wondering if…if you could teach me how to surf the way you do? I know we don't know each other or anything and you don't have to…but I was hoping you could," she rambled, stopping when she saw Haley slightly laugh.

"What?" she asked, completely caught off guard by Haley's reaction.

"Nothing, I've just never met anyone who rambled so much," Haley laughed. Quieting herself down she continued, "I'd be happy to teach you but most of its just confidence…and not caring so much if I get hurt or dumped," Haley finished, handing Lillie back the wet towel she'd borrowed.

"Thanks," Lillie replied, "Hey, I have to get home but I noticed you didn't have a wallet or anything with you. If you're going in the same direction I could give you a lift…if you want."

"Yeah, that'd be great but it depends on where you're heading."

"A place called Tree Hill. Don't know if you would've heard of it, seeing how you only got here today," Lillie replied, adding, "We could talk some more and I could drop you off on the way."

"You've got to be kidding me," Haley laughed, running her hands over her face.

"What?" Lillie answered, confused.

"I ran away from that town today. My Aunt lives there and I'm staying with her family," came Haley's reply as she sobered.

"Why? Who are they? If you don't mind me asking," Lillie asked.

"They're the Davis's. Live in a really affluent neighborhood. As to why, I punched a girl who I think is my cousin in the jaw…for insulting me and my brothers," Haley told her.

"You punched Brooke Davis?" Lillie asked, bug eyed.

"You know her?"

"My older brother Lucas is dating her, so yeah I know her."

"Oh man, my day just keeps getting better. Tell me you aren't friends with her?"

At this Lillie started laughing, sobering when she saw that Haley was serious and answered, "Far from it, we have this truce where I leave her alone and she leaves me alone. And when my brother's around we're nice to each other. But you did what I've wanted to do for years…so thank you," Lillie told her, smiling then gave her a friendly hug.

When she pulled away from her, Lillie said, "Shall we go? I'll fill you in on all you need to know of Tree Hill gossip on the way."

"Sure."

With that the two girls each picked up Lillie's stuff, Lillie leading the way to her brother's car and talking casually between them.

Having gotten away as early as they could after dinner, Lucien and Lucan sat upstairs in Haley's room waiting for her. They'd tried contacting her telepathically and getting an emotional hit but to no avail.

All they kept getting were flashes of water along with a sense of happiness and at ease which meant Haley could be anywhere, and they had no idea where to start looking.

So here they sat, playing poker while they waited for their errant sister's return, the only thing keeping them sane being the emotional hit of happiness they'd received from her, which they hoped would last.

Seeing the upstairs family room was deserted, knowing he was alone and wouldn't be disturbed seeing as everyone was occupied, Tim silently made his way over to the open balcony doors.

Turning on one of the nearby lamps for light, he seated himself cross legged on the polished wooden floor boards taking care not to damage the leather bound book in his hands, a book he'd had stashed away gathering dust.

Opening it up, he looked at photos that seemed like they were taken a lifetime ago, a time when life felt so much simpler.

Staring at the photos he still couldn't quite believe that the girl who'd slugged his sister was actually the same girl he knew from early childhood, the only girl other than Brooke he'd been close to.

Looking at each of the photos he was reminded of what a tomboy she'd been, how she hadn't been afraid to get covered in dirt, play rough, get into trouble or do anything her brothers and he did. He could remember he'd never once saw her act girly or like a little princess wanting to play with Barbie dolls or whatever it was little girls did instead.

He also remembered how close they'd been, even though he was a year old. The pair of them had been practically inseparable except where her brothers were concerned but then the four of them would end up playing and causing trouble.

As his thoughts continued, Tim couldn't help wondering how different this Haley was to the one he'd known. After all time changes everyone, every child grows up…and they'd grown up in vastly different environments, while he'd been raised most of his life stuck in a small town, Haley had traversed the globe, seeing and experiencing things he could only imagine.

With those thoughts in mind, Tim decided he was going to get reacquainted with not just Haley but Lucien and Lucan too. He would help them out, show them around and introduce them to his friends until they started school which wouldn't be happening for another week according to his mother, she wanted to give them time to settle in a little before shipping them off to school. With that thought Tim continued to look through the photo album no one, not even his mother knew he had, remembering what it had been when he and his cousins had been kids.

* * *

**Have your say. Tell me what you thought. All reviews welcomed.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.**

** Stace**


	4. Chapter 4

**Have You Ever?** By Stace/Pagan

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except for the characters I've created (Paige, Donald, Lucan, Lucien, Lillie & Patrick). Other characters and everything else owned by the creator(s) and the network. Suing me would be pointless.

* * *

Chapter 4 - Let the Fun Begin/ Settling In

The week following the Triplets arrival was one allowed for them to find their feet, settle in and see the town so they had a basic idea of where things were before they were sent into a situation they'd never experienced before.

Their first full day in Tree Hill started with Lucien and Lucan waking up fully dressed in their clothes from the previous day in Haley's room to find Haley herself quietly moving about her room, slinging a backpack over her shoulder and looking none the worse for wear.

Still groggy and bleary eyed, they mumbled, "Hales? What…where are you going?"

Turning to them she nonchalantly replied, "Surfing. Wanna come? My friend's down stairs waiting."

At the mere mention of the word 'surfing' both boys were wide awake, rushing from her room and meeting her down stairs within minutes, complete with boards and gear, all thoughts of the previous day's events forgotten.

Outside in the predawn light, Haley made the introductions and explained how she'd met Lillie the previous day after she'd taken off. As she made the introductions she caught sight of Lucan and Lillie staring at each other and knew sparks were going to fly. It was clear there was an instant attraction between the pair.

After the four had spent an hour or so surfing, Lillie drop the James siblings off at the Davis house before going to school, promising to meet Haley afterwards at half past three and giving her an address of where to meet her before the James siblings disappeared into the house.

In the hours that followed their return to the Davis household, the triplets were practically dragged around town by their loving Aunt. She took them to sit for and receive their drivers licenses, to buy them a car of their choosing, which happened to be an inexpensive jeep; then showed them where some places they needed to know were in town like the grocery store, the hospital, the police station and the mall.

As their first full day in Tree Hill began to end it came time for Haley to go meet Lillie. Being joined by Lucan, the pair made their way from their new home to the address Lillie had given them while Lucien stayed back, preferring to hang out with Tim and Nathan who'd just arrived home.

Reaching their destination the pair were greeted by Lillie and a sandy blond haired guy about their age.

"Haley, Lucan this is my older brother Lucas. Luke, this is Haley – the girl I told you about – and her brother Lucan," Lillie introduced them as they entered a building with a sign that read 'Karen's Café.'

"Nice place," Haley complimented looking around as she took a seat at the counter.

"Thanks, my mom would be glad to hear it."

"Your mom?" Lucan questioned.

"Our mom – Karen Roe – owns and manages this place, along with the local underage nightclub Tric with Luke's half brother's mother Deb Scott," Lillie explained, rather proudly.

When she noticed the look on Lucan's face, she proceeded to tell him what she'd told Haley the night before, filling him in on all the town gossip – old and new.

Some time later, after Lucan was filled in on the goings on of Tree Hill, the foursome had discovered they got along like a house on fire. While Lucan and Lucas were involved in a deep conversation about some old author or other, Haley helped Lillie clear tables, take orders and just serve the customers when they weren't busy chatting until it was closing time.

As their first full day in Tree Hill came to an end the James triplets – who were all in their respective bedrooms, preparing for bed – could only wonder at what the rest of their stay in Tree Hill would bring and mean for them.

As the rest of their week to settle in progressed, new friendships were formed and old one's rekindled. While at the same time Haley, Lucan and Lucien formed the routine of surfing in the morning while being ready and at home in plenty of time for school.

During the week, Tim tried getting to know his cousins better, tried rekindling his old friendship with Haley only to find they no longer had anything in common other than DNA. Plus Haley and Lucan had developed a habit of disappearing without either warning or notice.

Instead, he along with Nathan had rekindled their old childhood friendship with Lucien, finding that the three of them had plenty in common.

During the time Tim and Nathan spent with Lucien after school, they found out about the life Lucien had led up until arriving in Tree Hill.

Lucien told them about the different places he'd lived and visited, about the differences in cultures and customs, stories of what he along with Lucan and Haley would get up to and that this would be his first time attending a proper school which surprised both boys.

As the three guys hung out over the course of the week, they either found themselves at the Davis house swimming and relaxing or at Nathan's like they currently were – on Lucien's last day of freedom – enjoying a game of basketball. One of the things they happened to have in common.

"Man, how'd you get this good? I thought you said you never went to school," Nate asked as he and Lucien played a game of one-on-one.

"Just because I didn't go to school doesn't mean I don't know how to play. I did hang out with the local kids everywhere I went," came Lucien's reply.

"But that doesn't explain how you got this good."

"They do play basketball…and just about any sport you can think of in the places I lived. It's not like I just surfed all day," Lucien said, his trademark grin spreading across his face as he stole the ball from Nathan.

Nathan, who was in shock at what had just happened, could only watch as Lucien scored a basket from the three point line. When he recovered he said, "You should join the school team, we could use a player like you."

With that the boys continued to play one-on-one taking turns going against one another.

Meanwhile, as Lucien made friends with Tim and Nathan, Haley and Lucan continued their growing friendships with Lillie and Lucas.

When the foursome weren't hanging out together and when Lucas wasn't spending time with his girlfriend, he could be found with Lucan. The two would talk for hours about literature, politics, basketball and even about all the different places Lucan had been.

When they weren't talking, they could be found at the river court playing basketball. Lucas knew Lucan didn't know anyone in town other than his siblings, Lillie and Tim's friends so he had brought Lucan down to the river court, introduced him to the guys – Skills, Fergie, Junk and Mouth – a few days ago.

Since that day until now – his last day of freedom – he'd played ball or just hung out with the river court guys whenever he wasn't hanging out with his sister and her beautiful friend, Lillie.

"You still playing, Luc?" Skills called out, shaking his head at the look on Lucan's face.

Shaking his head, he responded, "Course. Ball," and prepared to slam dunk the ball as Skills shot it to him.

Unlike her brothers, whose sole focus had been making friends before they were thrust into school, Haley had gotten herself a job.

It was just a waitressing gig that Lillie had got her at her mother's café but the job meant Haley didn't have to give up her independence and she had her own money coming in so she didn't have to take hand outs from her Aunt.

It also meant she got to hang out with Lillie, a lot. Karen had placed them on the same shifts incase Haley needed any help and to show her the ropes.

When they weren't working and when Lillie wasn't at school, the pair could be found hanging out at the café, at the river court, even at the Davis house – which was rare. But usually if someone was looking for them they could be found at the beach, ripping it up in the surf. The two girls especially Haley had begun making names for themselves in the local surfing community, in fact people were as amazed at her water prowess as Lillie had first been.

This is where they could currently be found, surfing away the afternoon as dusk descended.

First day of school…a week after arriving

It was 7:00am; having been up for over an hour already Paige Davis went about getting her two teenage children up and ready for school. Knowing she didn't have to worry about her niece and nephews – who'd taken off before dawn – she went downstairs to start breakfast.

Half an hour later, aware that the triplets were due back any second and her children had yet to make an appearance, Paige gathered the last of the breakfast she'd prepared and carried it over to the dining room table.

"Morning, Aunt Paige. What's for breakfast," came a chorus of voices, startling her.

"Whatever's on the table," she replied, turning to see all three of her sisters kids making their way to the dining room table.

She noticed as each of them raided the table, all grabbing something different – Lucan toast, Lucien crumpets, Haley a piece of fruit and a croissant - that both boys were very attentive to what Haley ate. It wasn't the first time Paige had noticed it and just like every other time it drew her attention and raised he curiosity.

She got the distinct feeling someone had neglected to tell her something, only she couldn't put her finger on what.

In fact, since their arrival Paige had closely – though unobtrusively – watched the triplets, trying to anticipate anything they might need.

Through her observations, she'd noticed the attentiveness of the boys towards Haley and not just when it came to food or mealtimes but in general. She'd also noticed how close, protective and caring they were towards and around one another.

Forty-five minutes later just as she was about to yell out to her kids, Tim and Brooke emerged into the dining room just as the James siblings were grabbing their school gear and left.

"Tim, Brooke could one of you please make sure your cousins get to the front office? It's their first day and I don't want them getting too lost."

"Sure, mom," Tim replied, quickly grabbing a piece of toast and hurrying outside just in time to see his cousins driving off.

Having arrived ten minutes ago and finding Nathan, Tim asked, "Seen my cousins?" Just as they both noticed the unmistakable James triplets walking with none other than Lucas Scott and his little sister, Lillie Hardgrove.

Seeing that the group was walking in his direction, Nathan couldn't take his eyes off of Haley. She was shorter than her brothers but her body was perfectly formed, her skin tanned to perfection and her hair…her gloriously radiant hair shimmered wherever the sun glinted on it.

As she got closer and knowing he had a reputation to up hold, Nate whistled before calling out "How bout you and I get together later?" just as she past staring at her.

As Lucas, Lucan, Lillie, Haley and Lucien walked past Nathan, the boys ignored his comment while Lillie said to Haley, "I'm guessing you already know Nathan Scott. School jerk and a playa, thinks he's god's gift to womankind, can get anyone he wants and usually does."

"I know him," Hales replied, then without missing a beat she turned to Nathan while still walking and cheekily said, "Only in your dreams, ass," smirking as she saw Nathan's face.

It was obvious he'd never been so publicly rejected, before.

"Nice one, Hales," Lillie said, not surprised at her new friends display as the group made their way into the front office and awaited their summons into the principal's office.

Four hours later and two classes to go, Haley made her way outside to meet Lillie at a place they'd decided on.

Dropping her things she casually dropped down alongside Lillie leaning back against the trunk of the tree, completely aware of her cousins searing gaze.

From across the quad, Brooke and her group could see Haley sitting with the mysterious Lillie. Even though Lillie was Lucas's sister she wasn't friends with her; she'd tried once but Lillie accused her of being self-absorbed and shallow so after that they had an understanding to stay away from each other and not interfere in each others lives.

While her friends chatted away aimlessly, Brooke couldn't help thinking about her cousin. She rarely saw her since she moved in; she was either out somewhere or walking the grounds or in the swimming pool or up in her room completely locked away from the outside world.

Brooke wasn't so much mad at her cousin for hitting her as she was shocked – no one had done that to her before – and now she was feeling threatened.

As soon as Haley had arrived her mother had been preoccupied making sure she was settling in, that everything was fine for them but what about her own kids? It seemed like their mother had forgotten they existed or didn't have anytime for them anymore.

She couldn't help what she was feeling; she secretly wanted to be so like her cousin. Over the years she'd built up a façade she let everyone believe while inside she wasn't what she appeared to be. There were only four people who she let see who she really is: Peyton, Jacinta, her boyfriend Lucas and Tim but no one else, not even her mother.

She couldn't help thinking that with Haley's arrival, maybe she could begin to be her true self, just maybe.

At a nudge from Jacinta, Brooke looked over to see her cousin, leaving Lillie and removing something from her bag as she went before she was out of sight.

This piqued her curious nature, something was going on with her cousin that she didn't want her new friend to know about and she, Brooke Penelope Davis, was going to find out exactly what.

"Lil, see you next period. I've got something I have to do," Haley said as she got up and walked away.

Giving her a curious look, Lillie said, "Yeah, sure. See ya then," having seen Haley go off alone before after they'd gone surfing or while they were hanging out, it came as no surprise to her.

She knew Haley had a secret and while she was tempted to go through Haley's things to find out she wasn't about to. Lillie knew that whatever Haley was keeping from her, she would tell her when she was ready and not before hand.

Having walked off in the direction of the parking lot, Haley knew it would probably be devoid of students and teachers.

Standing by the jeep, half of herself hidden she did a complete 360 making sure no one was around, took out a syringe, filled it and lifted up her top. With a practiced ease of know how and confidence, believing no one was watching her or able to see what she was doing Haley stuck the syringe into her abdomen and injected herself.

Having followed her cousin, Brooke crouched behind a car with a perfectly unobscured view of her cousin. She could see Haley alertly looking around then injecting something into her abdomen with ease as though she was use to it.

Now seeing what she'd just seen, Brooke was downright more than curious, she had a million thoughts rampaging through her mind none of them good. She had no idea what to do except she wasn't going to tell anyone else until she found out for herself exactly what her cousin was up to.

As Brooke was about to get up and sneak back to her friends, she saw one of her other cousins. Trying to remember which one it was, it wasn't until she realized he was wearing a skull cap covering his shaven scalp did it dawn on her which male cousin stood not too far away – Lucan.

Seeing him go over to Haley, watching the pair of them whisper furiously but not being able to hear a word of their conversation Brooke cursed the distance that separated them, wishing she could've heard what was said. As she continued to watch she saw Haley quickly place the syringe inside a case and back inside her bag, just as Lucan wrapped his arm around her shoulders with Haley looking slightly annoyed but lovingly at her him and he looking the same back at her.

Once they were gone Brooke quickly made her way to her friends and to class, though her mind was swirling with unanswered questions and theories on what Haley was hiding.

* * *

**Have your say - tell me what you think. All reviews welcomed.**

**Stace**


	5. Chapter 5

Have You Ever? By Stace/Pagan

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything other than the plot and characters I've created (Lucan, Lillie, Lucien, Paige, Donald and Patrick.) Other characters and everything else owned by the creator(s) and the network. Suing me would be pointless.

**Special thanks to HJS-NS-23 for your loyal and constant reviews :) and to DreamerChick21 - I'm glad you love my story and I hope you aren't disappoint with the drama that's about to unfold. **

**Also thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review my story, it means a great deal. :)**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Chapter 5 - Secrets

Two Months Later…

Brooke had yet to make any progress in finding out what Haley's secret was though she saw Haley continually go to the parking lot every lunch and inject herself, one of her brothers never far behind.

All Haley's continued secrecy and disappearances kept Brooke's curiosity mounting and she was fast running out of ideas on how to find out the truth, short of coming straight out and asking Haley what she was hiding, which wasn't an option in her mind.

Having settled in over the last two months, life had been pretty boring for Haley.

She went to school during the day, hung out, did homework and worked at the café with Lillie in the afternoons. On the weekends if she wasn't working or didn't have any assignments due, she would go surfing usually with Lillie.

The only time she ever really spent any time with either of her brothers was when they went for their morning surf since most of the time her brothers were busy hanging out with their new friends – something she didn't begrudge them since she was doing the same thing.

She was even getting along better with her cousins and their friends, which considering how she'd met Brooke was surprising to say the least.

Even what had started out as hostile bantering between herself and Nathan Scott whenever they saw each other either at school or at home had now dwindled and changed into a more teasing playful kind of bantering, which wasn't going unnoticed by anyone.

So here she was in her room, listening to one of the many Australian bands/artists she'd heard while living in Sydney. Pete Murray's 'See The Sun' album blaring throughout her room, blocking out reality and the outside world as she worked in her bathroom turned temporary makeshift darkroom.

She was currently developing and processing her most recently taken roll of film until it was time for her to get ready and go out to a beach party later that night.

Photography was her most secret passion, so secret that neither of her brothers nor anyone else knew what she did.

Walking past Haley's room waiting for her to leave, Brooke could hear yet another band or artist whose music she didn't recognize.

She'd been hearing a lot of music she wasn't too familiar with lately but she guessed that was a good thing, opening her mind to different musical genres.

Only right now she wished Haley – especially Haley – and everyone else would hurry up and leave, already. Tonight was going to be her only sure fire uninterrupted chance of discovering the truth of what Haley was hiding, once and for all.

With her parents having left yesterday on a two week business trip; Tim and Lucien going to a party at Nathan's and Lucan and Haley both going to a beach party in Charleston with Lucas and Lillie, Brooke knew she was free to snoop through all three of her cousins rooms with relatively no chance of getting caught, unless someone came home early.

Five hours later, after everyone had been gone for a little over an hour and giving herself enough time to make sure no one was going to come home early having forgotten something, Brooke carefully began rummaging through Lucien's room.

Him, being the oldest; she figured she'd start her search in there. Knowing how protective he was of his younger siblings, he might have something that would help her.

An hour and a half later of meticulous searching and she was coming up with nothing, zip, zero, nah dah, bubkiss.

Moving onto Lucan's room, all her meticulous searching resulted in was a hidden stash of porn and an even more hidden journal and notebook full of poetry which she didn't have the slightest inclination to read, let alone time. Another hour and a half wasted.

Finally, Brooke reached Haley's room. As she began to open the door she was seized with apprehension and dread, knowing what she was doing was both unconscionable and an invasion of her cousin's privacy. She couldn't stop herself now, not when she'd already started nor when she felt so close to discovery.

Entering Haley's room, Brooke looked around and saw that even though the room was messy it seemed like organized chaos. She began making her way around the room, searching through drawers, cupboards, the trash can – which contained a lot of lolly wrappers – and anyplace something could be hidden.

"If I was an illicit drug or syringe, where would I hide?" she muttered to herself, crawling on her hands and knees about the room.

After an hour and a half of fruitless meticulous searching, Brooke was just about ready to give up when she remembered she hadn't checked either the walk-in wardrobe or the ensuite.

Deciding she'd check the walk-in first, she walked in but all she could see before her was clothes. Looking up, she scanned the shelving above her stopping when she glimpsed an unusual looking yellow container, which was slightly hidden in a corner of the shelving.

Grabbing a chair, she stood on it, grabbed the unusual container and saw that the label on it read "Disposable Unit for Hazardous Materials/ Sharp Implements."

Her curiosity piqued, Brooke stepped off of the chair being careful with the container. Placing it on the floor in front of her, she carefully opened it, revealing it half full with used syringes and little glass vials.

Stunned, Brooke sat there knowing she'd hit the jackpot in her search but at the same time wondering why an apparent drug user would have a container such as this, a container she knew was used in hospitals. It didn't make sense.

Putting the container back where she found it, Brooke began searching a new. This time in the only place she'd yet to search…the ensuite.

A little over half an hour later, making her entire search of Haley's room total about two hours, Brooke found exactly what she'd been painstakingly searching for.

Inside a cabinet under the sink, she found a little hand carved wooden box, on the lid was a beautiful depiction of a butterfly flying over a whale's arcing body.

Inside, Brooke was shocked by what she found. The contents weren't anything she'd remotely suspected, let alone thought she'd find. Picking up a vial – like the empty ones she'd found earlier – she read the label, causing her to sink further into shock.

So engrossed in what she'd discovered, Brooke didn't hear the opening door or a sound until she looked up from her position, only to find…Haley, standing in the ensuite doorway.

Holding her anger and gathering emotions at bay, Haley knew letting her temper fly wouldn't help the situation. But seeing Brooke sitting on her bathroom floor, snooping through her most private things was beyond belief and felt like an enormous betrayal.

"I…I'm…I'm so sorry, Haley," Brooke stammered, carefully putting the delicate box down and watching as Haley walked stiffly straight back out of her room. Having never done this before, Brooke didn't know what to do to but as she looked at the box in front of her and what it contained, she felt the need to confirm the use of what it was.

As soon as Haley made it calmly to the door, she sprinted the rest of the way out of the house, jumping into the jeep and driving as far from Tree Hill as possible.

By 4:00am, she'd made her way to a beach so far down the coast from Charleston and Tree Hill, she knew no one would have the slightest idea where she was or where to start looking for her.

With 'Astroboy' blaring from the jeeps powerful speaker system, salty tears coursing down her face, Haley set off down the beach. Stopping only to remove her loose shirt and jeans, leaving her in her Victoria Secret Pink Mesh cami set, she attached her board to her ankle, walked into the water and began paddling out.

She knew night/early morning surfing was dangerous. Not just because the water was deep, could contain rips or that the currents were unpredictable but because some sharks actually fed at this time. None of that mattered to her right now, her anger and pain was too great to ignore…she needed peace and freedom.

What Brooke had done to her tonight was hurtful, no doubt about it but what made it worse was the fact that it felt like a betrayal, especially after what she'd done for Brooke almost a month ago…

_It was late, Haley being the restless sleeper that she was, could vaguely make out the sound of crying coming from near-by._

_Getting up, she made her way outside her bedroom, looking around she immediately noticed the slumped apparently crying figure of her cousin, sitting in the bay window at the other end of the hall._

_Haley had never seen her cousin like this before but she'd known there was more to her than met the eye, she knew instinctively that Brooke wasn't what she appeared to be. Years of moving and having to decipher people in a matter of hours had honed her observation skills and instincts to let her know when something or someone wasn't right or when people were lying._

_Brooke sensed someone near-by making there way over to her, when she saw who it was she wanted to scream. Of course it would be Haley who woke up and found her, sitting here crying and thinking._

_She thought about shouting some mean, hurtful comment to make her leave but instead said, "What do you want?"_

"_I heard you crying, thought you might need to talk...What's the matter, Brooke?" Haley countered, sitting next to her._

"_Nothing."_

"_Don't give me that bullsht. You maybe able to fool your parents, minions and anyone else that exists in your world but not me! I've lived too many place, moved too often to believe that," Haley said, pausing slightly before continuing "Just so you know, I'm sorry about hitting you when we first met; I sometimes have a tendency to overreact. Anyway, if you do want to talk...I'll be in my room," Haley finished, getting up and heading back to her bedroom._

_Sitting there stunned by her cousin's little speech, Brooke quickly recovered whispering, "Stay...please."_

_Turning back, Haley sat down and waited in silence, allowing Brooke to speak when she was ready._

"_I wish I was more like you, you know. Brave, outgoing, strong, confident, laid back, not afraid to be yourself no matter what anyone else thinks and having no insecurities. I'm so not like that; I keep up this ice queen, heartless facade so that people at school don't see who I truly am and eat me alive," Brooke admitted, feeling and showing her vulnerability._

_A few minutes of silence past as Haley absorbed and processed all Brooke had just revealed._

"_You make me sound so fearless, Brooke but you don't even know me. Deep down I'm the same as you, as everyone else. Everyone has insecurities, I have insecurities, I've just learnt life's too short to let them get in the way and stop you from truly being yourself. Plus, I have two brothers who won't let me wallow in insecurities or self doubt. You just need to face what you're afraid of, what frightens you, what's stopping you and never let anything or anyone stop you from being who you want to be." Haley told her, thoughtfully, vehemently and fiercely._

_For the rest of the night the two girls sat there, Brooke confiding in her and Haley listening and offering any helpful advice. A slight, tenuous friendship forming._

Throughout the memory, Haley surfed, releasing all her pent up emotions as she glided on and through the waves, reaching a level of calm, she only found while surfing. Just as she was feeling more at ease, the image of Brooke in her room, the delicate box in her grasp flashed through her mind and with it she felt her anger renewed. How dare Brooke do that to her!

She couldn't understand how Brooke could repay her for not telling anyone about her moment of exposed vulnerability by invading Haley's privacy and finding the one thing she was truly afraid of being exposed.

At lightning speed, random thoughts began bombarding Haley's mind – how Brooke had seemed to be wherever she was at times, how observant and vigilant Brooke had become towards her and how Brooke had probably gone through both Lucien and Lucan's rooms too.

Being so used to surfing anywhere, at any time; Haley was concentrating less and less on her actions and direction instead focusing more and more on what her cousin had the audacity to do and what she'd do with her new found information, when out of no where Haley felt herself being dumped. Her leash snapped and then nothing as her head made contact with an underwater reef or rock break; the water continuing to toss and thrash her body about, at times making contact with the rock or reef break.

With the party winding down and people slowly leaving, Nathan, Tim and Lucien all began the massive clean up necessary to make the Scott house hospitable and livable before Nathan's mom got home.

Dropping the garbage bag in his hands, Lucien clutched his ribs as he felt a sharp, stabbing pain rip through his entire body and an intense sense of uneasiness he didn't recall feeling before engulf him as the pain vanished.

Still being a tad intoxicated and feeling the beginnings of a massive hangover, Lucien brushed aside the unease he felt, believing if anything was remotely wrong he'd get a phone call from one of his younger siblings since they were out partying together.

At around 5:00am when he was just arriving home, Lucan suddenly felt a wave of sharp, stabbing pain followed by an intense sense of unease. Cautiously, he made his way to his sister's room, remembering he'd only ever felt like this twice before – once for Haley when they were young children and more recently for Lucien.

Walking into her room, he was overcome with a lingering anger and a subtle sense of remorse and guilt. As he made his way further into her room, he took note of everything until he reached the bathroom and immediately saw the delicately crafted old wooden box – given to Haley by a close old friend of theirs – lying wide open on the cold tiled floor.

Picking up the box, Lucan checked it's contents, making sure his mental notes matched what he saw.

Seeing everything was how it should be, the vial Haley needed not only to stay healthy but to live was at about the right level, Lucan closed the lid and put the box back where it belonged when he noticed the up turned trash can.

Bending down to clean up the mess, he noticed a mass of crumpled up chocolate and lolly wrappers, instantly the unease and worry he'd felt earlier but had subsided upon seeing the vial returned full force.

Hearing soft footsteps behind him, he turned to find Brooke standing near the bed, a look of guilt, remorse and exposed vulnerability clearly evident putting him on alert.

Brooke entered Haley's room thinking, hoping Haley was back but to her astonishment it was Lucan. Seeing the look on his face and his rigid posture, she began to worry, not knowing why.

Deciding to bite the bullet and voice her suspicions, she bluntly asked "Is Haley a diabetic?"

"Why? What have you done?"

"Nothing. Just answer me, Lucan."

"It's none of your concern, now tell me why you look like you've just been caught with your hand in the cookie jar," Lucan replied, his heightened senses missing nothing.

Standing there, Brooke contemplated what she could tell him but having noticed every time something was wrong it was like both he and Haley could sense it, it was an uncanny ability she found unnerving. Knowing she couldn't lie to him, Brooke said, "I knew Haley was hiding something, I saw her inject herself at school two months ago and I was curious so while everyone was out tonight I went searching through your rooms. I found the box, among other things in Haley's bathroom but before I could put it away, she saw me. I tried to apologize but Haley just took off and hasn't been home since," confessing truthfully.

Lucan knew without a doubt his cousin was telling him the truth and while he was angry at her with what she'd done, he wasn't about to have a go at her – that was for Haley to do if she so chose to. "Do you know what time she bolted?" Lucan asked his worry and unease intensifying at the mention of his sister.

Knowing Haley the way he did and the mood she would've been in, he knew she was capable of doing anything but knowing for certain it would involve the beach.

"About sometime after 1:00am, why? Do you think something has happened to her?" Brooke asked him, suddenly becoming very concerned for her cousin.

Just as Lucan was about to answer her, he felt his phone vibrate. Picking it up, he heard Lillie's voice on the other end.

After talking to Lillie for a few minutes, he finished flipping his phone shut when he was done and turned to leave, throwing a none-to-happy look at Brooke as he passed her.

"Where are you going? You can't just not answer my question like that and give me that look," Brooke told him a bit petulantly.

Having reached the front door with Brooke trailing him, he turned to her saying "Look, my sister's MIA. Something deadly serious has probably happened to her, I can feel it." Looking at her slightly bewildered and concerned face he continued, "Lillie and Lucas tried phoning her but they got nothing. It's unlike her. She always picks up, no matter what mood she's in, even if it's only to shout at whoever's on the other end to leave her alone," he finished, warring with himself to tell her the truth she so insistently sort and discovered, and what was causing him to worry.

Seeing the concern and fear shining through her eyes, he answered, "Yes, you were right. Haley's a diabetic, only my concern now is I don't think she's been following her eating plan. I'm worried about her insulin levels."

Shocked by Lucan's confession, Brooke quickly regained her composure, grabbed her keys and followed Lucan out the front door, directing him to her car.

As they got into Brooke's car, Lucan noticed Brooke hadn't even asked him to wait so she could change clothes but remained in her cherry print pajamas and bunny slippers.

While they drove to Lillie's, the pair talked. Brooke asking him questions about the information she'd learned while Lucan answered and filled her in on what she didn't.

After arriving at Lillie's while Lucan, Lillie and Lucas discussed where they should start searching for Haley, Brooke tried phoning Lucien but after getting no response she left him an urgent message and tried both Tim and Nathan, only to get the same response.

Half an hour later, the four left in search of Haley, all deeply concerned.

While Lucan drove, Brooke continued trying to reach Lucien to no avail as Lillie and Lucas began sending picture texts to the various friends Lillie had in the surfing communities up and down the coast.

By the time Lillie had contacted everyone she could think of, they were no closer to finding Haley. Then suddenly she remembered there was one person she'd completely forgotten but not knowing whether he'd be at home or work, Lillie sent him both a page and a picture text reading:

Razor –

If you've seen this girl, phone me. I need to see her.

Lillie –

* * *

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. **

**Let me know what you think - good or bad - all is welcomed.**

**Stace**


	6. Chapter 6

Have You Ever? By Stace

Any mistakes are mine, sorry if there is any grammatical or spelling errors but I'm in need of a beta.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the characters created by me. Characters and everything else owned by the creators and network of One Tree Hill.

* * *

Chapter 6 – Finding Haley

A strong muscular arm wrapped around the unconscious girl's body, hulling her up above the water's salty surface and placed her on his board. Climbing up behind her, he quickly paddled his way to shore.

The moment they were on the sand, the stranger checked her airways – making sure they were clear – and searched for a pulse. Finding none, his years of schooling, training and experience automatically took over, instantly starting CPR and compressions; he worked furiously to save the young girl's life while early morning joggers and runners passing by watched on.

After working on her for roughly twenty minutes, he found she had a pulse – thready but strong. With his training still guiding him, he stabilized her neck – incase she had a spinal injury – as best he could before carefully checking her body for injuries.

Having completed his check, he found she had a possible broken wrist, some probable broken and severely bruised ribs - which would only be confirmed by x-rays - and a contusion to her skull. Along with numerous cuts, scrapes and abrasions that adorned her petite body from head to toe.

But what raised his concern and piqued his interest the most, causing him to wonder if they were connected to her present condition was the needle marks he found on her abdomen in amongst her multitude of injuries.

"Oh My God! ...Hay?"

Startled by the familiar panicked voice behind him, the guy briefly checked that the girl was still able to breathe and had a pulse before getting up and turning around, only to come face-to-face with his stricken girlfriend.

"Tay, do you know her?" he cautiously asked, gently grasping her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's Haley…my baby sister," she answered, unshed tears glistening in her eyes, her voice full of familial concern and worry.

"Excuse me, I've called the paramedics. They'll be here soon," said one of the joggers standing by, who'd stopped to witness the scene.

"Thanks," the guy replied, offhandedly.

Turning his attention back to his girlfriend, gauging her reaction he said, "Tay, before the paramedics arrive, I need you to answer some questions for me…some you're not going to like."

"What?"

"Was she taking anything? Do you have any idea why she'd have needle marks on her stomach?"

Eyes trained on her baby sister's still unmoving form, questions plaguing her mind, _what happened to make her be out surfing well before dawn? Where the hell are those two brothers of mine? They're supposed to be taking care of each other; _Taylor answered solemnly, "She's a diabetic. Only immediate family members know."

Adding, "She should be wearing a medi-alert bracelet…but I guess she's not," falling silent.

A few minutes later, her mind in turmoil but secure in the knowledge her sister was in safe hands, Taylor got up saying, "Go to the hospital with her, take care of her for me. I'll be there later," and began walking away, off down the beach just as the paramedics arrived, her emotions now carefully concealed and under control.

Knowing not to push her, the guy let her go and began briefing the paramedics on the unconscious girl's condition.

Fifteen minutes later, after having administered some treatment, the stranger and one of the paramedics sat in the back of the ambulance on their way to the closest hospital, which just happened to be where he worked as an ER doctor.

Knowing it was about 6:00am and he was late for his shift, he checked his phone and pager for any messages but only found one from his niece, none from the hospital.

Opening it, he read the text and found a picture of the girl lying in front of him, minus the cuts and bruises.

Slightly astounded, not to mentioned shocked; he replied to her text saying,

Lil –

Meet me at work in an hour and we'll talk.

I maybe able to help you.

Razor –

Sitting in a booth at a diner near the beach; Lucas, Brooke, Lucan and Lillie were all eating breakfast when Lillie's phone began vibrating.

After flipping it open and reading the message, Lillie said, "We have to go to Pacific Memorial. Razor says he might be able to help," getting up from her seat and heading towards the doors.

"What's Pacific Memorial? Who's Razor?" asked Lucan and Brooke in unison.

"Razor is our uncle Patrick; he's an ER doctor at Pacific Memorial Hospital in Southport. He also taught Lillie how to surf," Lucas explained as the three of them hurriedly followed Lillie out to the car.

Once they'd reached the car, Lucan got into the driver's seat with Lillie next to him, giving him instructions on where to go while Lucas and Brooke sat in the back, still trying to get into contact with Lucien or Tim or even Nathan.

6 hours later, noon. Tree Hill.

With an empty, hollow feeling Lucien woke up, finding himself in Nathan's living room with Tim still passed out on the sofa not too far away.

"Want a coffee, some aspirin?" came Nathan's voice from the doorway.

Looking up, Lucien replied, "Yeah, definitely," getting up and following Nathan into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes, forehead and his neck.

Ten minutes later, they were both sipping their coffees and talking about the previous night's events when Lucien suddenly asked, "Do you know where my phone is?"

"Yeah, here," Nate replied reaching behind him and handing Lucien his phone, a puzzled expression marring his features.

Putting his coffee on the bench in front of him, he flipped open his phone only to see he had a few messages and a lot of missed calls.

As he listened to the first call, his hand gripping the phone gripped tighter, turning white while a mixture of disbelief, shock and concern graced his features, causing Nathan to ask, "What's wrong?"

"It's Haley. I have to go," he stated numbly, dazed and still seated.

"What's Haley? Where?" came Nathan's sharp instant reply.

Shaking his head to clear it he explained, "The phone call was from Brooke. She said Haley was missing, might be in a hospital at Southport called Pacific Memorial. Wanted me to meet her there hours ago…I have to go."

"No, we have to go," came a surprising voice from the kitchen entrance way.

Turning, both Nathan and Lucien saw an alert, wide a wake if a bit hung-over – just like themselves – Tim.

"I got the same message from Brooke, Nate probably does too. Anyway, besides that Haley's not just your family…she's mine too, so let's go," Tim told them, heading out of the house towards his car outside, taking charge.

Leaving their coffees where they were Nathan and Lucien got up and followed Tim, Lucien's thoughts in a whirl and internally beating himself up, knowing he'd failed his sister.

Lillie, Lucas and Brooke all sat patiently waiting in the waiting room, looking on as Lucan paced, impatient with waiting. All of them wanted to tell him to calm down but knew it would be of no use, so they just let him continue.

Emerging from the secure area of the ER, Razor walked over to the four teenagers who'd been waiting for the last five hours to see him.

Before any of them had a chance to speak he said, "Sorry, it's taken me so long. Place has been a mad house since I arrived. Before I can help you or even tell you anything I need to know why you want to see this girl?" Adding almost as an after thought, "By the way, my name's Dr. Patrick Hardgrove or uncle Razor to Lillie and Lucas, though they've probably already told you that. Now Lil, fill me in."

"Uncle Patrick," Lillie cautiously began only to be interrupted by her uncle. "This must be serious; you're using my given name. Go on," he said, seeing the look in her eyes.

"She's my closest friend. This is her brother Lucan and her cousin Brooke."

"Doesn't answer my question, Lillie," Patrick interrupted again.

"If you'd let me finish, I'd be able to answer your stupid ass questions!" She practically shouted.

"Okay, fine. Continue," was his only response.

"She went missing sometime this morning before dawn. No one's seen or heard from her and she's a diabetic who hasn't been taking care of herself…does that answer all your questions," Lillie said, somewhat calmer.

"Yeah, it does. Now I can help you. It also explains some things about her condition for me too. You four come with me," he stated, making his way to the elevator and not bothering to look back to see if they were following him.

Soon as the doors were closed, he looked at Lucan and in a business-like manner explained, "I found your sister this morning. I brought her in and treated her myself until she went up to ICU. You should know she's sustained a broken wrist, severely bruised and broken ribs, a concussion due to a contusion to her skull and some internal damage which we're closely monitoring. We don't really want to operate with her in her current condition but we'll have to if need be. Along with the injuries I've told you about you should be aware that her body is covered head to toe in cuts, scrapes and abrasions most of which are just superficial and won't leave any scaring but she doesn't look to hot, in fact her body is pretty much covered in bruises," he finished, dropping the business-like manner he'd assumed for the moment, allowing them all to absorb what he'd just told them and gauging each of their reactions.

"How, where'd you find her? What kind of condition was she in? How's her BSL's? What kind of internal damage?" Lucan fired at him, needing to know.

"First off, I found her face down in the water but hulled her out and began CPR when I found no pulse. After a little while I got a pulse, checked her for injuries and stabilized her as best I could until the paramedics arrived. As for her BSL's I had no idea she was diabetic until my girlfriend – your sister Taylor – told me and once the paramedics arrived I administered treatment on scene. Suspecting she was hypoglycemic I gave her a shot of Glucagon and before we got here I tested her BSL's to make sure they were roughly stable and in normal range, which they were. The internal damage we found -which we're monitoring - is a _very _minor tear to her liver that should heal itself, given time. Don't mistake what I'm telling you though; she isn't out of the woods yet where her diabetes is concerned or her other injuries. Her condition could change like lightening, it's just a game of wait and see," he told Lucan sternly, causing everyone to stay silent.

Then just as the elevator doors were about to open, Brooke spoke up "Do you know why she was face down in the water? Do you know for how long?"

Shaking his head slightly, he replied, "I can't answer the latter question but I can the first. My guess is she probably got partially dumped and collapsed off her board as she went into hypoglycemic shock while she was night surfing in an area she's unfamiliar with. Seeing as she isn't a local, she wouldn't have had any knowledge of the underwater reef break that's along that stretch of beach. Now with her being unconscious she had no chance of fighting to get to the surface and the crashing waves tossed and turned her about like she was a ragdoll in a washing machine going through the wash cycle," as they all stepped from the elevator and continued, following Patrick through the hospital.

Stopping, he lightly knocked and before he opened the door said, "Here we are."

Hearing a softly spoken 'come in', the five people entered the room.

Sitting on the hospital bed bedside Haley, Lucan saw his oldest sister. She sat with her back to the door, her long hair freely flowing. She was different than he remembered. Her hair was no longer blond but instead brunette and longer, past her waist now.

As he moved out from behind Dr. Hardgrove and around the bed, moving closer to see his sister's unconscious form Taylor turned to face him, looking him directly in the eyes.

The look he saw was one of fierce protectiveness mixed with concern and as he began to move slightly forward he wondered if she'd snarl at him if he got any closer to Haley.

"I won't bite, Luc," she said, surprising him and the other four people in the room.

Her expression softening, she continued, "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here?"

"Yeah, now you mention it," he replied. After all he'd barely seen Taylor since she left five years ago to go to college. She'd never told them where she was going to go; only that she'd be around if and when they ever needed her. He hadn't even known she was in the same country as them until now.

"Apart from watching over my baby siblings for the past two months, I live here in Southport. I work at a local music store and go to college not too far away," she told him, adding, "she's a fighter Luc, you know that as well as I do. She might look like she's been through hell but she'll pull through, she'll get better," seeing where Lucan was staring from his standing position at the end of the bed.

Looking at her, Lucan could see some of the cuts and scrapes that apparently adorned ninety percent of her body, knowing what Taylor was saying was true, he moved around the end of the bed and took a seat at Haley's feet resting his arm lightly over them.

He knew all the cuts and scrapes would heal pretty quickly but her wrist and ribs would take longer, after all they were bones. As his eyes reached her face he saw a nasty looking deep gash, a sense of automatic panic and fear began taking hold just as he quickly regained eye contact with Taylor, silently questioning her.

"It's nothing, looks worse than it is but that doesn't mean she won't have a sore head and one hell of a headache when she wakes up. Okay Luc. Now want to tell me where the oldest of the three of you are?"

"Don't know, he went partying last night and I haven't heard from him. Brooke left him plenty of messages though so he should be here anytime," Lucan answered her, knowing something was brewing from the way she asked and her tone of voice.

'_Good, I can't wait,_' Taylor thought.

Making quiet little coughing noises, both Brooke and Lillie gained the attention of the two siblings and the other two males in the room.

Turning her attention to the four other people in the room, Taylor looked at the two girls who'd made the noises, recognizing them both she introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Taylor, the triplet's older sister. Nice to meet you all, Brooke, Lillie and Lucas."

With puzzled looks on their faces all three looked at each other, then at Lucan who wore the same puzzled expression before turning to look at Taylor.

"She lives with me," Patrick spoke up, "I have pictures of you guys and your parents around my house," he explained, having stayed silent the entire time so far.

"Okay, that explains how she knows our names but how does she know Brooke's?" Lillie asked, confused.

"Brooke's my cousin. I visit my aunt Paige almost every other week, usually when no ones home," Taylor responded adding good-naturedly, "By the way, nice look Brooke. Different from your usual sense of fashion," looking at Brooke's pajamas.

Suddenly, everyone turned to look at Brooke, who being reminded of her attire turned beet red with embarrassment and slightly hid herself behind Lucas.

"Sorry, I didn't mean any harm or to embarrass you," Taylor said, seeing her cousin's obvious embarrassment. "It's just every time I've ever seen you, you always seem so fashion conscious and stylish."

"It's okay, I didn't really think about what I was wearing when I raced out the house with Lucan early this morning. I was so worried about Haley," Brooke responded, moving out from behind Lucas, feeling a little less embarrassed as silence descended.

"How's she doing now anyway?" Brooke asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Still stable, no change from what Patrick probably told you guys," Taylor responded, her eyes back on her baby sister's still form.

"Why don't you all take a seat, get comfy? I think we're gonna be here awhile….That's if you guys plan to stick around?"

"Of course we're staying," Brooke, Lillie and Lucas all spoke at once, causing the six people in the room to laugh which eased the tension that had begun to build during the brief silence.

As the three teens all took seats around the room, all looking at Haley, taking in her appearance and cringing slightly, they all got themselves comfortable – Brooke sitting on the floor with Lucas next to her, his arms wrapped around her, Lillie sitting on a chair close to the bed and Lucan.

Making his way over to Taylor, Patrick leaned over and gave her a quick peck on her check before whispering in her ear "I've got to get back to work. Let me know if you need anything," before leaving the room.

Just as he was about to straighten up from his position, Taylor whispered back, "Let me know when my other brother gets here? And don't tell him any thing. That's all I ask, okay Patrick."

"Sure, no problem. You handle this your way, Tay," he replied before straightening up and leaving the room, not without letting the others in the room know he was leaving.

Once Patrick had left, the five people seated around the room spent the next few hours talking, keeping an unconscious Haley company while occasionally gazing at her and waiting for one person's inevitable arrival.

* * *

Whether you liked it or not...please hit that little button that says 'Go' at the bottom of the page.

Thanks for reading.


End file.
